The Best Song Ever
by quicksear
Summary: The famous DJ Pon-3 was known for putting serious soul into her music... Nopony thought she did this literally.
1. Chapter 1 Complications

**Hiya, reader!  
****Okay, cliches aside, I was asked to do this story by a friend of mine, and although it isn't my thing, I'm gonna try and do a good job. So please share your opinions, maybe I can expand my writing style a bit.**

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Vinyl Scratch, the infamous DJ Pon-3, had always been known for being a bit of an eccentric. Her music was completely original; never before had it's like been heard in the history of Equestria, and it's popularity was matched only by her own.

And yet, she had decided to make her home in little Ponyville. Nopony really understood this, since she had been offered residences in really every major city in the land. And why she would decide to live in a small town two hours away from her radio station simply made no sense.

In fact, as I boarded our usual train headed for the K-Colt station just outside of Canterlot, I couldn't help but think that my friend has been acting a bit off canter lately. It was probably a good thing that we weren't actually going to be airing today, since she was due for a holiday after three years of single-hoofedly managing the entire show, plus both my career and her own. Anypony could be forgiven being stressed by so much responsibility.

Today we were meant to show the substitute DJ's around and show them the workings of Vinyls massively complicated equipment. Of course I'd leave that to her, since only she actually knew how the damn things worked anyway. Instead I was due to have lunch with Beauty Brass to cover what would be happening in relation to our ensemble during Vinyl and my upcoming hiatus.

I spent the train trip in relative silence next to the unicorn who had done so much for me over the years. But knowing that did not help the awkward silence that had built up not only this morning, but over the past few months. There simply was nothing to say. I had always counted on Vinyl's garish behaviour to start anything, but lately she had been subdued, rather staring out the window, or spending all her time in our Cottage's basement with some equipment she had been working on.

I wasn't particularly interested in any of that, it would work itself out. Vinyl always found a solution to her own problems.  
I got out of the train carriage once we stopped and with a cursory farewell I headed to the city centre and Beauty Brass.

Brass was at least easy to find. Not many ponies ordered a meal in a voice loud enough to make the waiter superfluous.  
"Brass! You're scaring the foals three blocks over!" I teased as I took a seat opposite her.

She quickly muffled her voice before greeting, "Oh, sorry...Hello Octavia."

I at least was well used to Brass's sousaphone voice, but it was a little over the top for others.  
"Well, I heard you order. I take it you went ahead and ordered my usual-?"

"Yes yes yes, Now tell me...What is your plan for your...Holiday?" She said in what was for her a suggestive and conspiratorial tone.

I laughed a little, but mirthlessly, and replied, "Brass, really...Well, that may not be on the cards anymore, that is to say-"

"Oh? What happened! You two were getting on so well last time I saw you together!" She cut me off. Again.

I shook my head impatiently, "Brass, let me finish. Yes, Vinyl and I...Have feelings for each other, but what with working together, and all the pressure lately with our recording deals both coming through...No, I don't think it can work. In fact," I said cautiously, not sure if I should share this, "I'm thinking of moving out. Lyra has already offered me a place to stay."

Brass's eyes flared at the news. "But why? You love that cottage!"

I looked down, wishing the food would hurry up, and sighed. "Yes, I do...But lately Vinyl has been getting...Odd. Her music is getting better and better, but her head always seems to be elsewhere. She is short tempered and never makes jokes anymore. I...I am not very well suited to her at the moment. I tried to be affectionate, to help her, but she doesn't want it. She always used to try and get me into the basement with all of her old stuff, but now, I'm not even allowed to open the door. I don't know what happened, but we have drifted apart."

Brass cocked her head and looked at me thoughtfully. "I can't imagine you being affectionate, sorry Octavia. I'm sure you know the situation best, but shouldn't you try to just...stick by her? After your holiday, I'm sure you'll both feel much better, and maybe you two can start over?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so Brass. This...Vinyl and I-" I tried to say, but Brass interjected.

"Just try! you two were so happy! Look at Harpo and me, we are completely different and we are okay."

"BRASS!" I shouted over her speech, "I know that you have a wonderful relationship, but things aren't so smooth on the other side of the pond, okay?! Good day!" I stormed off, not hungry, just angry. Brass thought she knew so much just because she had found herself a nice colt. Well good for her, but things weren't so simple for me.

I waited at the K-Colt building. When Vinyl was finished we walked together back to the train station and got the first train back to Ponyville. Vinyl started explaining something to me about some or other pony she had spoken to, but I was to upset to pay attention, and eventually she drifted into silence as well. When we arrived at our cottage, I stormed to the guest bedroom, too wound up to even think of sharing a bed.

Vinyl stood at the door, and said,"Are you okay Octy-?"

I slammed the door and went to bed.

"Oh...Okay, well...Goodnight..."

"


	2. Chapter 2 Bridges on Fire

The next day I woke up and as usual went down to the kitchen for a glass of orange juice. I was surprised to see Vinyl washing the dishes. As in with water and soap, nit her usual attempts at sonic scouring, which had led to several complaints and one or two hospital admissions. I welcomed the change as I said good morning on the way to the fridge. Vinyl looked uncomfortable about something, and I thought that, considering my actions last night, I should at least be friendly. "Vinyl? Are feeling okay this morning?"

My friend shook her head and pointed over to the table. "Lyra sent you a letter."

I looked at the opened envelope on the table, horrified. "Vinyl! You opened my mail!"

Vinyl dropped the plate she had been scouring and turned aggressively to face me. "So what? I thought we didn't have anything to hide! And here I find a letter saying, what? That you are welcome to move in with another mare whenever you feel ready?! I thought we were gonna stick together, you and me!" She looked on the verge of tears.

I knew I shouldn't have kept it from her, but she still didn't have the right to be so angry. "Oh, no secrets? Then what do you have hidden in the basement that I'm not allowed to see? And what do you care, you haven't seemed so interested in ANYTHING for the last few months!"

"What?" Vinyl spluttered for a second. "You don't let me into your recording room, unless you need help fixing the stuff _I_ installed! You've never been down to the basement since I moved my stuff down there, even when I asked. That's my space, to get away from YOU!" She jabbed a hoof in my direction animatedly. I noticed a bandage halfway down her left foreleg as she did so.

She had gone and injured herself again, no doubt. Lately she had often come out with an injury of some kind, never with an explanation.  
I looked at her calmly. "You see, Vinyl? You do need space. I need space. From all of this. I'll get Lyra to help me move into her spare room this morning."

I turned walked to our bedroom. I began packing my stuff as tears rolled from my eyes. I was sad that such memorable relationship would end just like that. I heard a door slam back on the first floor. Vinyl had disappeared into her hole in the ground again. It was probably for the best; Angers could flare if we saw one another again, and somepony might say something she'd regret later. If there was any hope left to be had.

Lyra was very comforting as she helped carry all my stuff with the ease that came with magic. I was quickly installed in the room once occupied by Bon Bon, as since she had gotten a new job in Canterlot, she was only in town seasonally and didn't need the room anymore. Lyra had been sad for weeks after Bon Bon had accepted the offer, but she seemed happy to get another friend installed, at least in the manner of having somepony else to pay a share of the rent. Of course, this situation had suddenly become much more complicated. Lyra was shocked to hear me relate the story of the morning's argument.

She... Didn't know you were planning on moving...?" She asked in a quiet tone as we walked back across the street for the final few things of mine. "Well, that isn' quite right, Octavia. You should apologize for that. Vinyl may be a bit odd sometimes, but she certainly cares for you."

I didn't want to agree, but Lyra was right: I had to apologize if I ever wanted a chance at at least a civil friendship with Vinyl. I walked over to the Basement door while Lyra gave me and encouraging smile and took the last of my things to my new home. I took a deep breath and knocked a hoof against the wood.

I couldn't hear anything from the other side of the door, because on my request Vinyl had set up a Mute Spell so that I wouldn't have to hear the racket every time she set up for a new song. That didn't stop from feeling the disconcerting vibrations that ran through the entire building as I knocked. It felt as if something really heavy had just fallen.

After a few moments, it stopped, and then the door opened a crack. "Oh, ya done, Octy?" Vinyl barely poked her snout out of the doorway. her voice was hoarse and quiet.

I was a bit shocked to hear her like this. and even more so to see a small blood smear on her cheek. "I-I just wanted to say how sorry I am at how things have worked out, and...Are you okay, Vinyl? I think you should come out-"

Vinyl cut me off. "I'm okay with you moving out. You are right. you usually are. Now I have a project to finish." She slammed the door.

I couldn't speak. I wandered over to Lyra's house, trying to wrap my head around Vinyl's actions. If she didn't want me there anymore, then so be it. I just hoped she wouldn't kill herself in there.


	3. Chapter 3 Secrets and Machines

The next few weeks were tense and disturbing. Lyra and I got on great, despite her obvious distaste with the entire situation. she and I were pushed closer as the town seemed to shun us. Me for what was happening to Vinyl, and Lyra for taking me in. Lyra may have ended up hating me, were it not for the fact that I was the only friend she had when Bon Bon did't come back.

She had been scheduled to arrive on the first train of Autumn, but when I had gone tho the station with the excited Lyra,Bon Bon hadn't disembarked. As each day had passed, it became apparent that Bon Bon was not returning this year, and in our mutual worry and fear for our problems, Lyra and I had comforted each other.

Still, I was not welcomed to any of my usual social settings, and unfortunately, due to the high status of Vinyl and my relationship, it was not long before ponies in the rest of Equestria heard about it. I received many letters asking why our relationship had collapsed so suddenly; Of course, the public had not been aware of its slow decline.

All this was not helped by Vinyl's odd behaviour. She became reclusive, not really talking to anypony except a single odd mare who came around in the evenings. Every night, many ponies would see the pegasus arrive as the moon rose, to disappear into the house Vinyl occupied alone. This pony remained a mystery under her ever present cloak, but at night the vast ringing vibrations that echoed through the ground were more than enough to give her mysterious cast a terrifying aspect. And as suddenly as she arrived, the pegasus would leave with the breaking of dawn.

But the worst was Vinyl herself. Every time she came outside, it was clear something was wrong. I watched her from my window each day she left our old home, each day with a new bandage. Things seemed to take a turn when she came out dressed spectacularly in a bright breast piece that covered most of her upper body, but it was ruined by the obvious discomfort she she tried to hide . Eventually she gave up and just wore a cloak at all times. But That couldn't hide the fact that Vinyl was slowly wasting away physically.

All of this did nothing but good for our music careers, more for Vinyl's than mine. Her creation, 'Another Girl', became an instant hit not two days after we broke up. Lyra had brought me a copy of it. With a stony expression she had made me listen to it. It was Vinyl's best work. I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. The song seemed to speak directly to me, expressing her anger and sadness, but Lyra saw a different message. Ponies assumed I had left Vinyl for Lyra once that song was released. And then I realized that this was the song Vinyl had been working on that day. She released many more songs over that short time, each one somehow conveying an emotion in a way no song ever had before. I could not take it.

I wanted her back.

I walked over to the cottage in the early morning, well aware that Vinyl should be asleep at that time. I couldn't help but wonder how she would react to this.  
I knocked, and of course there was no answer, so I opened the door. The only locks in this house were the ones I'd had put in the doors that led to the two rooms that used to be mine.  
It didn't take me long to realize something was off. The kitchen to the left was a disaster zone. Vinyl had always been tidy there, at least. The living room to the right was littered with dozens of records under a host of pictures spread across the floor. Of me and Vinyl. I tried to turn on the lights, but the switch was disconnected. Vinyl's music was throbbing threateningly through the house as I tried all the light switches in the kitchen and living room. They too, were broken.  
I walked, nervous, towards the end of the hall, tripping over various large objects. One or two let out low whines when I nudged them. I leapt back and tried to understand what had led to this terrible state. I fell over a huge metal contraption that groaned and fell with a crash, releasing a mass of pipes that snaked across the floor. Terrified, I ran away from the gloom, towards the only light I could see; the doorway under the stairs. I stopped when I realized that the doorway was not empty. A hazy figure stood there surprised at first. Then the unknown pegasus let out a loud eerie scream, and charged me. I screamed too, afraid, and dodged her. She crashed into the machine I had knocked over, cables Wrapping around her. She shook them off and looked at me with glowing green eyes. She howled and knocked me down. I cracked my head on the top stair of the basement stairwell. my head lolled loosely as I opened eyes on the terrifying scene

Vinyl was lying on a gurney, surrounded by machines and buzzing devices, all of them linked to her by a massive array of cables and coils that wreathed and quivered as they pumped the life out of her. Electricity played off of the giant columns that supported the huge twisted device directly above her, with a thick pulsing cable that plugged directly into the flesh over her heart.

When she heard me screaming her name in fear and terror as the pegasus began to drag me away. Vinyl twitched and began to rise. Cables plugged into her skin began to pull and pop out with wet sucking noises. All along her spine, plugs attached to each joint, holding her down. Her eyes popped open and I stared in disbelief.

In the final seconds that I saw her, her bloodshot eyes followed me as she began to laugh.


	4. Chapter 4 Mania

**This story isn't my cup of tea, that's for sure...damn, oh well**

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Lyra found me in the morning. She shook me awake and I woke up to see her worried expression as she looked over my body, stretched out on the living room couch where she had lain me. I tried to speak, but my throat was scratchy and I just ended up coughing in her face. "Whoa, Tavi! Hold on, try and move slowly. What happened to you?"

I looked down and saw that my legs were covered in blotchy bruises, easily visible even against my dull coat. My belly had raking scratches along it from being dragged..." Vinyl!" I croaked and tried to jump up, but my injuries were worse than I thought, and I fell back onto the couch, my throat on fire.

Lyra's expression turned cold instantly. "Vinyl did this to you? She beat you?"  
I shook my head, unable to express the horror I had seen. I looked out the window and saw it was early morning...That meant I had been been gone an entire day! I rolled over slightly, but felt a searing pain between my shoulder blades. I struggled to turn around and see what horrible injury had been inflicted there: A hole. A round, deep hole in my back.

Lyra chuckled mirthlessly at my hide eyed expression. "Heh, that's quite a wound ya got. And here's what made it."  
She turned and picked up something. She brought it up to me so I could see it. Disgust rolled through me when i saw it.

It was a plug. Almost like and audio jack, but shorter, and with a broad pair of blades mounted on the bottom. That had been put into my back?!

Lyra threw down the evil device and got to her hooves. "That's it, I've had too much of this, I'm going over there to see what the HELL IS GOING ON!" She turned to storm out of the room. I tried to call after her, but of course she never heard me.

It was an hour before I could even get off the couch. I tried to crawl to the door, but it took me too long to get there too. I couldn't stop, though. I couldn't let Lyra go in there, and I couldn't explain why.

Then I got a brainwave. I ground my way over to the storage locker by the door and grabbed a length of ribbon that Lyra kept there in my teeth, and pulled it out. The scarlet fabric would get somepony's attention even if my condition didn't. I stumbled up to the door and fed the ribbon out through the post slot before blacking out again.

I woke up in a white room surrounded by medical staff. Not that I found this surprising at all, but I was in a rush to save my friend from a horrible fate. I couldn't talk through the respirator, so I ripped it off and sat up. The ponies around me shouted out protestations and tried to hold me down, but in my partially recovered state, I moved too quickly. I tried to talk, but my voice was too weak for them to hear.

I ran out of the room, hoping against hope that Lyra had been sidetracked, anything that might have kept her from that terrible place. I ran out of the hospital as quickly as my damaged legs would allow, racing against my fears. the nurses giving chase could not keep up in their awkward robes and soon fell behind. I felt the vibrations running through the ground as I got closer toe Vinyl's lair.  
At the door was a small pile of fanmail. I kicked it aside and pushed the door open. the condition inside was unchanged: Derelict equipment littered all available space and none of the lights so much as flickered when I tried them. I forced myself along the hall as the throbbing force of the noise coming from the stairwell seemed to enhance the throbbing of my injuries the nearer I got. The level of sound illogically increased exponentially with every step I took, but eventually, I stood at the top of the stairwell, looking through the open door down into a room of nightmares.

A pony was strapped to the table, her pale coat stained with streaks of blood from the dozens of wounds that covered her frail frame. each hole in her skin was blocked by one of the plug devices that sucked and whirred along with the machines surrounding the terrible scene. The only part of her ruined skin that was recognizable displayed a mark of three bow-ties.  
Vinyl was hanging from the ceiling by the cables in her spine, her laughter echoing maniacally through the room as she watched the life sucked from a pony she had once known as a friend.

I tore my eyes away and scanned the rest of the room. There in the corner, under the guard of the mysterious pegasus, was a shell shocked Lyra, staring as her best friend had the life ripped from her body.

I had to do something, quickly.


	5. Chapter 5 Sweetest Loss

I was frozen at the top of the stairs, looking down into the eyes of the terrifying hooded pegasus as she smirked at me. My mind was sluggish as I tried to formulate a plan. I my condition there was very little I could do.  
The pegasus noticed my timidity as she hefted a large plug device. She watched me with a curious angle to her head and flipped the evil piece over in her hoof a few times. Then, bored of the stare down, she spun and plunged the devilish creation deep into Lyra's chest.

Lyra screamed and fell against the wall, staring with disbelief at the shining metal device in her body. It began to move, turning as the blades began to pull the plug even deeper. Lyra stopped moving as her blood began oozing out around the cavity just below her heart.

I should've acted already! Now there was no time to think about repercussions, I had to try and save at least one of my friends. I shuffled back, got my footing, and leapt into the basement. I managed to make it over the rumbling equipment, and I caught onto Vinyl's swinging body as she dangled mid air. Our combined weight was too much for the plugs along her spine, and one by one they began to pop loose. Vinyl screamed in agony, and the last few ripped from her spin and we dropped onto the gurney, onto Bon Bon.  
I felt something jab me in the side, but I ignored it and spun to look down at the mare I had landed on. Vinyl fell off the edge of the metal slab as I jerked as many of the plugs from Bon Bon's drained body as I could. The large central one in her chest whirred as I tried to disconnect it, but I couldn't pull it out. I settled for snapping the cable joining it to the large overhead contraption. The devices around me began to scream and the loose cables wreath across the floor in search of a body to prey on. Vinyl lay there, unaware that her devices were homing in on her as their target.

The pegasus didn't give me much time. I heard her howl, and as I turned to face her, I saw her soaring over the ring of buzzing machines to crash into me. I tried to dodge her, but my stamina was all but spent and we both ended up in a heap on the floor, among the many snaking cables, their hungry plugs careening across the floor, pulled along by the spinning blades desperately searching for flesh. On managed to burrow into my hind leg. The pain was excruciating, but I yanked it out before it sank itself too deep. The pegasus pulled herself away and looked down at me. I saw the glowing magenta eyes, radiating fury and desperation. I didn't think as I lunged out and stabbed the plug straight up into her chest, through her cloak and into her skin. her cloak caught on the blades and jammed the device. It began to spin erratically, cut a broad hole across her chest, which bled profusely. She screeched and flapped her wings to get away from the pain. As she rose the cables tautened and yanked the device from her flesh, widening the wound even more. She continued howling wordlessly as she flew through the door and out of view. My vision was dimming as I searched hopelessly for a way to shut out the madness that had surrounded my life.

I gave in to the creeping void and stared up at the control panel right above my head. I saw the faintest tinge of flickering blue surround the panel, my last memory was of hearing a loud click followed by a sweet melody trailing out, before the weight of the coiling cables fell on top of me, pushing out the last of my consciousness.

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The fact that I lived to recount this story at all is still barely believable. The fact that Lyra made it, too, brings me joy in this moment of loss. Bon Bon was dead by the time the hospital staff, still searching for me, had made their way into the cavern of nightmares where the evil had taken place. They had been led there by tones of discordant music that had swayed the entire town in its irregular rhythm. The music I had heard was the eclectic accompaniment to their terrifying discovery.

They had put out a warrants for the Pegasus, but they had nothing to go on other than basic guesses as to her age and size. I can't really say why, but I feel as if I know those eyes I saw, but I cannot place that mad look to anypony I have ever met. I know my story is a crazy one; This sort of thing never happens in Equestria...But if you can, please, I know what Vinyl did was evil, but she...saved us.

If you ever find her, bring her home.

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**There, done. Not a high moment, but if you read this far, then it couldn't have been that bad, right?**


End file.
